Mufti Gainutdin calls for prevention of destruction of civil peace in Russia in light of St. Pete tragedy

Moscow, April 3, Interfax - Ravil Gainutdin, the head of the Russian Council of Muftis, has called on Russians to mobilize in the light of the explosion in St. Petersburg.

"Today we should be vigilant and unite to counter those who are looking to destroy civil peace in Russia. We need to show the true face of not only the perpetrators of killings, but also the masterminds of these atrocities, who are looking to put our country into the abyss of bloody repression and feud based on ethnic origin and religious affiliation," the mufti said in his address quoted by his press service on Monday.

Extending his condolences to the victims' relatives and loved ones, he said that, according to the Koran, the killing of an innocent person is regarded as equal to the killing of the whole mankind in terms of its malignity and the degree of sinfulness.

"We mourn the people killed in the explosion that occurred in St. Petersburg on April 3 and we pray for the salvation of those injured and hurt," Gainutdin said.